#you can tell it's been too long since i touhoued that it took me this many weeks to think of this

[goldom]

[mimicteruyo]

The Little Teahouse Around the Corner

[Touhou Ship Week Day 7: Free day. KomaEiki + AkyuSuzu, 2.7k, crack/fluff]

---

If described very charitably, the construction before Eiki and Komachi could have been called a teahouse, exactly as the bamboo plank above the entrance claimed it was. More accurately, it was simply a large tent lit with red lanterns, standing conspicuously close to the Human Village.

"At least it's open?" Komachi eyed the obviously wet paint on the sign, then peered within. "I figured that at this hour, we'd have a choice between grilled lamprey and nothing this close to the village."

"Indeed." Eiki followed Komachi's example. There were certainly plenty of people within, each with a beverage in front of them, but the overall mood in the tent was quietly puzzled. Besides chairs and tables, there was also what looked bafflingly like an oden cart. "Something about this seems wrong."

"No worries, Sis! It ain't anything weird! We're runnin' a perfectly nice temp teahouse!"

They straightened up in unison. The speaker was a calico cat perched on a stool just barely to the side of the tent's entrance, grinning at them. "Lookin' for a cosy place to chat? We've got ya covered!"

Komachi grinned back. "Mike Goutokuji, right? Don't tell me this is your shop."

"It ain't. I'm just workin' here for a bit." Mike's tail swayed gently from side to side as she talked, its many-coloured fur catching the light of the lanterns. "I'm a barker! Which I know sounds really weird since I'm a cat an' all, but I can do the job. For a few days, anyway. Steady work doin' the same thing over an' over again ain't really my thing."

Komachi chuckled. "I know that feel— er."

Eiki chose to ignore the aborted remark. In any case, Mike's plans made it sound as though she was doing precisely what she supposed to do. Losing interest in things and loafing around were some of the chief goals in a cat's life, after all.

"Anyway," Mike curled up her palm. She beckoned three times. "Welcome to the Juniper Teahouse."

The next moment, Eiki found herself within the tent with no memory of stepping inside.

She halted, blinking in the sudden light. There were half a dozen customers within, humans and youkai alike, nursing teacups and expressions ranging from vexed to serene. Although there were multiple chairs for each table, every single customer was solitary. What had looked like an oden cart from the outside was precisely that; no-one appeared to man it, although the occasional bang and tuneful whistle from within it told her that someone was indeed there, just beyond sight.

"Komachi," she began, more puzzled than troubled even as she clutched the Rod of Remorse closer to her chest. "We should keep our eyes—"

It was at that moment that she became aware of a distinct lack of Komachi by her side. Only Mike was there, waving her legs in the air and looking very pleased with herself.

Eiki spun around. "Komachi?"

No answer. No sight of Komachi, either.

Standing by the entrance feeling foolish wasn't going to do anyone much good. Ignoring the slow blink Mike was giving her, Eiki stepped back outside.

And collided with an invisible barrier with enough force to momentarily bounce her off her feet. She staggered back in surprise.

Mike gave her an apologetic wince. "Sorry, Sis." Her tail swished low as Eiki studied her forehead for bumps. "After I've invited ya in, ya've gotta stay a while."

"Is this your ability?" Eiki prodded at the barrier with the Rod of Remorse. It proved as solid and unyielding as a ten-foot block of ice. "What happened to Komachi?"

"She'll be fine," said a familiar voice behind Eiki. "At least, she will be according to what Mike told me. You'll be a better judge of whether it's true or not."

Eiki turned to see a slightly less familiar face smiling at her close to the back of the tent and responded in kind. "I didn't notice you before. May I join you?"

Hieda no Akyuu assented with a nod. She waited for Eiki to take the seat opposite of her before continuing. "I hope you've been well. This present situation expected, of course."

Eiki crossed her hands on the table. "I would say so. The situation in Hell remains both confusing and volatile, but that's to be expected. Has your work progressed well?"

Akyuu took a careful sip from her cup. "It has, thank you. I've kept comfortably busy. And Kosuzu..." Akyuu's smile, which bore a distinct resemblance to that of her previous incarnation, brightened and then immediately dimmed. "I hope you don't mind my saying this, but I expected her to sit where you sit now." Her smile grew more rueful still. "Especially since she's the one who wished to come here."

"Has this establishment..." Eiki gestured at their surroundings and discovered that she couldn't call them that without correcting herself. "...Tent been here for long?"

"It appeared yesterday. As for me, I have been here for ten minutes. Mike informed me that it takes at least an hour for her invitations to be considered fulfilled."

"That's longer than I had hoped." Eiki frowned at the innocuous-looking exit and Mike, who was currently occupied with a moth circling the lantern nearest to the entrance before turning her attention back to Akyuu. "Can you tell me precisely what's going on in this place?"

"I can explain that!" a muddled but cheery voice called from the bottom of the oden cart.

---

Komachi had walked merrily along for several minutes, taking in the twilight air and seeing if she could get her breath to fog up in the lingering cold from the past winter, when she realised she had at no point decided to take an evening stroll. Moreover, she was now alone, something which was the exact opposite of her plans for the night.

She halted in the middle of the path and turned to look over her shoulder. The greenness of the teahouse tent blended into the evening behind her, but she could still see it when she squinted. Distance of course meant little to her: she could be back there nearly as soon as she decided upon it.

But first, it was best to figure what had happened. It was likely nothing serious: the situation had the feel of a fairy prank to it. Still, the fact that she couldn't actually remember what had passed rubbed her the wrong way.

"Alright..." She adjusted her scythe to rest more comfortably on her shoulder. "What happened here?"

So, there was the weird teahouse, and Mike, who did strike Komachi as bit of a prankster, but who had seemed earnest enough inviting them in. Had Mike addressed her invitation to Lady Eiki alone? No, Komachi was sure it had been extended to them both.

She recalled her only previous encounter with Mike, on a lazy afternoon not that long ago when she had wandered into Gensokyo and struck up a conversation with the cat upon meeting her on the road. Mike had mentioned arriving in Gensokyo not that long ago, having only recently left behind the temple she had been born at, and that due to circumstances she had done so before she had completed her training as a maneki—

"Damn."

At the moment of realisation, Komachi became aware of of running footsteps rapidly approaching her, just in time not to be entirely surprised by someone small but fast-moving crashing into her.

"Ow!" The person who had collided with her tottered back, holding a hand to her nose. Even in the dying light and with half her face covered, she was obviously Kosuzu Motoori. "I'm sorry! I just..."

Kosuzu trailed off. Her eyes travelled first up to Komachi's face, then to the blade of her scythe. She took a startled step back.

Komachi grinned. "No need to fret. You're not dying tonight."

Kosuzu relaxed quickly in that quietly alarming way of humans who made of habit of traipsing too close to the border of the mundane and the supernatural. As her shock drained away, it was replaced by an almost mournful expression, so out of place it was almost comical.

"What's the matter?" Komachi almost began walking to see if Kosuzu would follow, but she had a funny feeling it would only result in Kosuzu crashing into her again. "It's not wise for you to run alone on a dark night like this. Did someone refuse to return your favourite book?"

Kosuzu fidgeted with her sleeves. "No, nothing like that." For a moment, she looked hesitant to speak, but once she did, the words spilled out of her in a tumble. "Actually, it's our anniversary today."

"Whose?"

Kosuzu's cheeks flushed pink. "Mine and Akyuu's."

"Really?" Komachi couldn't help but chuckle. "That's a funny coincidence."

"What is?"

"Never mind." Komachi relaxed her stance. "Let's see if I can guess what happened. Since it was your anniversary, you decided to go out to celebrate."

"That's right."

"And you happened upon a new, strange teahouse."

"Exactly!" Kosuzu halted her eager nodding to blink. "How did you know?"

"Because it sounds like we're in the same figurative boat."

"Oh." Kosuzu smiled weakly. "I suppose that's better than a literal boat. Um, I mean..."

Komachi laughed. "That'll be another day." Before Kosuzu could become too unsettled, she nudged her head towards the road behind them. "Come on. Let's go find our dates."

---

"Here you go." Suika Ibuki slammed the teacup onto the table with enough force to make half the liquid within leap into the air. Miraculously, not only were both the table and cup undamaged, but the drink returned into the cup without so much as a single drop spilling. She winked. "I'd say it's on the house, but I'm guessing you'd take that for a bribe."

Eiki took the cup gingerly. Seeing its contents in the air had already made it obvious it was filled with anything but tea, but the scent confirmed it. "Is this sake?"

"Well, yeah."

"The sign outside said you're running a teahouse."

"Yeah, yeah. Is there a law saying you can't serve sake in a teahouse?"

Eiki had to concede the point. "Not in Gensokyo, no."

"See? Try it. It's good." Suika turned towards Akyuu. "Care for a refill?"

As Akyuu murmured a demurral, Eiki took a sip from her drink. It was indeed rather good, but that was beside the real matter at hand. She looked up. "Suika—"

Suika had already left the table. Eiki watched her stalk around the tent, grinning as she went, gathering empty cups and refilling others with seemingly no input from the patrons.

"So where was I?" She returned and cheerfully pulled out the remaining seat for herself. If she was discomfited by any lingering memories of the less than auspicious circumstances during which she had last encountered Eiki, she showed no signs of it, instead beaming with the brightness shared by the very innocent and inveterate liars. "A story of some kind?"

"You were about to explain why we can't leave."

"Yeah, that's right. So this teahouse is just a bit of fun. I'll get going as soon as Reimu finds out I've set up shop this close to the village." Suika grinned. "Actually, I think I'll wait for her to show up. It's more fun that way."

Akyuu offered her a polite smile. Eiki pushed her cup aside. "And then you hired Mike?"

"That's right." Suika took Eiki's cup and downed it in a single long swig before continuing. "Of course, I don't really need her to gather customers. I can use my foregathering ability to bring people over just fine. But it feels more like a proper teahouse with an employee, doesn't it?"

"A floor might have a similar effect," commented Akyuu dryly.

"Anyway, since Mike can only invite one person in at a time, I decided to gather people into the area so that even if only half of them got in we'd still have plenty of customers. It worked really well, too. Until people tried to leave. I tried making the people disperse once they got stuck, obviously, but for some reason it only worked on those who hadn't been invited in at all. I'm guessing our abilities got entangled in some mysterious way."

Eiki nodded. "I see."

"Anyway, you don't have to worry. Everyone gets to leave eventually. Even the person stuck for the longest managed to walk out after two hours."

Akyuu set her cup down. "At least one of us may not have to wait for that long." She raised her voice. "Mike?"

Mike, who was no longer paying attention to the moth and was instead swinging her leg back and forth, jerked her head upwards. "What's up, Sis?"

"Can you step out for a moment?"

"Sure." Mike dove out. "Now what?"

Akyuu stood up and nodded at Suika. "Thank you for your hospitality." She gestured at Eiki to join her at the tent's entrance and waited until they were both there before speaking again. "Mike, can you attempt to invite us outside?"

"Oh, I see." Eiki smiled as she grasped Akyuu's intent. "Even if the invitation can only work on one of us, it still means one of us will be free to go."

"I hope you're the one invited out." Akyuu's smile was thin but sincere. "Unnerving as it is being this close to multiple youkai, I have made my peace with waiting here. After all, by remaining in one place I have better odds of re-uniting with—"

"Akyuu!"

They turned to look outside. Kosuzu hovered right behind Mike, bopping her head around in an effort to see past her. Behind her, calm but still curious, stood Komachi. Upon noticing Eiki, she gave her a cheery little wave.

Akyuu's smile immediately warmed to the point where its brightness was a match to the lanterns. "Everything is fine, Kosuzu. It's only a small supernatural obstacle."

Kosuzu gave a distracted nod, then turned towards Mike, looking almost ready to put hands on the cat. "Please invite us in!"

Mike's eyes darted from Komachi and Kosuzu to Akyuu and Eiki and then back. She frowned. "Kay, how about we try somethin' like this?"

She positioned herself in the tent's entrance, one foot in, one foot out. Before anyone could do anything to stop her, she beckoned with both hands. "Welcome!"

The next thing Eiki knew, she had collided with something unyielding but relatively soft.

"Oof." Komachi staggered back, then reached out to steady Eiki. She grinned. "At this rate I'm going to be qualified to work as a roadblock."

Back on her feet, Eiki looked around. She was outside again, with Komachi's hands on her arms and the tent securely behind. "Who knows how far I would have walked if you hadn't stopped me. Thank you for catching me."

"Did you ever doubt I wouldn't?"

Eiki smiled back at her. "No. I didn't."

They looked back. Within the tent, Kosuzu was clinging to Akyuu's arm, speaking rapidly but too quietly for any discernible words to make it outside the tent. Mike was watching them from her perch, smiling with self-satisfaction.

"Well, that worked out great." Suika came to the entrance, beaming as though Mike's success was hers as well. "Must be fate." She winked. "And don't worry about paying. The drink was on the house after all."

Given that most of the drink remained in the house, Eiki found little cause to complain. "Thank you." She frowned. "Don't invite more people in until you have understood what causes this. Consider—"

"Yeah, sure." Suika made a sweeping wave. "Have a good night!"

She retreated back into the tent. Only Mike remained near the entrance, still pleased with herself.

"That didn't exactly work out, huh?" said Komachi, smiling all the while.

"Yes, I suppose it didn't." Eiki watched Akyuu and Kosuzu retake the table Akyuu had previously occupied, smiling at each other all as though they were the only two people in the world. "But it doesn't seem to have done any harm, either. Should we consider the grilled lamprey stand?"

"Funny. I was just thinking I was in the mood for some fried fish." Komachi let go to adjust her scythe, which had nearly fallen from her shoulder in the collision, then held out her hand. "How about we go see what else fate has in store for us tonight?"

And so they did, continuing down the road together, filled with newfound appreciation for the beauty of spring nights.

[toho-literature]

Curiosities of Lotus Asia - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Drizzly Furnace - Part 1

It was during an incessant drizzly day in Gensokyo. Marisa came calling to Kourindou as a genuine customer, strangely enough. Her request was for Rinnosuke to repair her handy Mini-Hakkero. She said that she was very attached to it, so she didn't want it to rust again. And on top of that, she made a very surprising request... The first part of the fourth chapter about a rare metal in an original story based on the Touhou series!

Drizzly Furnace (First Half)

I travel down a gloomy, unmarked path. My clothes feel twice as heavy as usual. A natural result of this drizzle, of course.

Be it sunlight or pouring rain, this forest's leaves will dissipate it completely. Whether it's sunny or rainy doesn't make much of a difference here. You can't even tell if it's night or day... I really like this unbounded feeling a lot.

But it sure is hard to walk when your skirt is so heavy. I feel the rough object I'm carrying within in it, and look up. Come to think of it, wasn't it drizzly on the day I got this, too?

He had been running a shop here for as long as I can remember. I don't really like to think about the past often but, well, I remember lots of stuff and the pleasant dimness inside the shop. Yes, there was no such thing as day or night, human or youkai there. It's that kind of place. It's definitely comfortable there, but there's just one thing I can't stand.

It probably has to do with my family, but he's so stiff towards me. Well, of course, since before I was born he was an apprentice to the Kirisame family. In the end, it seems he said that by dealing with our everyday merchandise and human customers he couldn't make the most of his “ability”, and struck out on his own. This ability of his, though... it's just a so-so ability that can neither kill nor revive. Just a while ago he was saying stuff like “This is a heater.”, and how he uses it in a really weird way. In any case, since long ago he's been reserved when it comes to me, even though I already said I'm not going back to live with my family.

Just then, I saw a fairy sitting on some huge mushrooms. This type of mushroom can cheer up people, so I'll take some to recover fatigue. He's always being anti-social and listless, so maybe I'll give some to him as a gift.

The forest's mushrooms grow in a blink, and they always grow in different places. They practically pop out of nowhere and vanish just as fast. The forest itself is alive, and it's always changing. But there are things that change even faster than the forest. Like humans. It's really humans that are the elusive ones.

But him, that guy hasn't changed in any way at all since long ago, neither on the outside nor on the inside. For as long as I remember, he was already running this shop, so I don't really know when this apprenticeship story of his happened. How long is he going to live anyway?

There are humans who defy gravity. And there are humans who can stop time, too. But not changing on the outside nor the inside? That may be the one thing no human can imitate. Man, am I jealous.

That's when I realized I had grabbed too many mushrooms so the fairy looked unhappy. It didn't look like I could carry that many, but it seemed a waste to leave them behind, so I just stuffed them inside my hat. They were wet, so they felt a little gross. Wow, I just can't seem to be able to throw stuff away. I amaze myself sometimes.

It was just like when I was living with my parents. During one of his rare visits to my house, he was carrying some scrap of metal, and got in an argument with my father for some reason. I was very young, and even though I desperately tried to listen in, stuff like “hihiirokane” (crimson ore) and “rare metal” was all I could hear. And after that I got curious and started to gather everything from iron tools to old iron rods and even iron scraps, anything that was metal. In the end, it was pointless, but even now that I've left my parents' home, all the iron scraps I gathered at that time – well, trash, really – I still have them at my new house. I could throw away my home, but I wouldn't throw away those metal scraps. I sure amaze myself.

While I was remembering these unnecessary things, I saw my destination. The “rin” comes from the being close to the forest and the frequent drizzles. Yes, this is a shop with an owner that would make such an obvious name. The “kou” of incense relates to gods, basically meaning shrine. Geez, this guy really likes this stuff. “Kourindou”. This old and small shop is the shrine that sits on the border between human and youkai, drizzle and forest. So in other words, is this place supposed to be the heart of Gensokyo?

There’s a drizzle falling today, and on these rainy days, the only thing to do is light a lamp and read a book.

Knock, knock, bam!

“Hey, Heart of Gensokyo! I know it's kinda sudden, but give me something to dry myself.”

I saw a black and wet lump. Sure enough, the one destroying my enjoyable reading time was the same troublesome person as always.

“What do you mean by ‘heart’, Marisa? Oh... You are pretty wet, aren't you? Take this towel and dry yourself.”

“Oh, thanks a bunch. And by the way, why are ya readin' a book, Kourin? It's rainin' today, in case ya didn't notice. Don't you always say that ‘The only days for reading books are sunny days.’?”

“I said that sunny days are the only ones in which you can read a book with the lights out.”

“Oh yeah, I brought ya these. Eat a few and cheer up some.”

Marisa handed out her hat to me, while wiping her body. It was full of mushrooms inside.

“Are you telling me to eat these suspicious things? Well, knowing you, they're probably fine...”

“Make some mushroom soup with 'em. Here's the towel back.”

“Hey, you aren't dry all the way yet! It'll be bad for my merchandise if you sit on them in those wet clothes.”

“This is the part where ya should be worryin' about me gettin' a cold. Anyway, I got a job for ya today. Betcha weren't expectin' that, huh?”

When you admit yourself that you being a customer is unusual, I have nothing cynical left to say. Marisa said “I came to ask ya to fix this.”, and pulled something resembling an octagon-shaped incense burner from her skirt. Though it was worn out all over, the rust stood out the most.

“Ahh, this sure is nostalgic. Are you still using this Mini-Hakkero?”

“I abuse it all the time for just about everythin'. It's just gotten rusty.”

This Mini-Hakkero is a magical item I made when Marisa left her parents' home. Even though it's small, it has extraordinary firepower. It can reduce a single mountain to ashes. I guess it can also be used for heating, experiments, combat, and more.

“Gee, I can’t even think of livin' without it.”

“I see. Hearing such things is one of the benefits of being an item-smith.”

“That's why I wancha to modify it so it never rusts again. Yeah, make the whole reactor part out of hihiirokane."

Hearing such a strange word made me briefly imagine that I wasn't talking to Marisa anymore, so I took a more business-like tone out of reflex.

“Unfortunately, I don't deal in such material.”

“Whatcha lack, Kourin, is the ability to lie. You lack a lotta other things, too.”

“Hmpf, it's too much of a bother to lie so I'll drop it. But I didn't think you would know about hihiirokane."

“You bet I do. It's good stuff, right?”

“Hmm, hihiirokane is an incredibly rare metal. However, I do have a little that I guess I could use.”

“I'd 'ppreciate it.”

Hihiirokane is indeed a rust-proof metal. Since its properties practically won't change under any environment, you could likely make the strongest magical items with it. But that said, modifing her Mini-Hakkero would exhaust my supply of this precious metal... What should I do?

While I hesitated, I noticed that there was a strange point to what Marisa had said. This would be my first chance to do business in a while.

“Alright. Since this item is a proud work of mine, I might as well do it.”

“Really? That would help me out a lot!”

“However, I do have something to ask in return.”

As I said, when you accept a job, it's only natural to ask for something in return. But for Marisa, the terms I proposed to her could be considered easier than paying in money or mushrooms.

[askroahmmythril]

A Look Back at the Past 10 Years

I had wanted to put this in the video description for the 10th Gag Reel vid : https://youtu.be/ovzRypMF_BM However, it told me the description was too long.  So I’ll post it here instead and link it from the video info.  Basically, these are just some thoughts and memories looking back at my first major video from each of the previous years’ worth of content.

2009 : "Mega Man 1 - Cut Man Perfect Run" Ahh, my first video, back where it all started.  Yeah, my vocal energy has changed a lot since then as I got more confident in what I'm doing, kind of found my own groove, that sort of thing.  I've had people ask if I'd ever go back and re-do these with my current energy or what have you, but I think it's important to remember the past, it's kind of interesting seeing how I've grown since then, if that makes sense.  That and I really would rather not re-do some of these stages again, thanks.

2010 : "Mega Man 9 - Splash Woman Perfect Run - Part 1" Continuing on with the Perfect Runs, by this point, I had acquired the Gamebridge, my first video capture device.  It had its issues, sure, but hey, it opened up a lot of possibilities for things I could work on.  Also interesting to see, this was a "Part 1," due to the old YouTube video length limitations.  When I first started, videos couldn't be longer than 11 minutes.  It later upgraded to 15, and now these days, no more limits.

2011 : "Let's Play Secret of Mana - Pt 1 - Who So Pulleth Out This Sword..." Secret of Mana is probably one of my favorite projects I've done on the channel.  I have a lot of nostalgia for this game due to playing it with my mum way back in the days of the SNES.  It was a project I had intended to do for awhile, but other things kept getting in the way.  It led to an inside joke when the people on Pink's old forums made a Touhou-style game where I was the Stage 5 boss.  One of my spell cards was called Event Horizon "Delayed Mana."

2012 : "The Situation At Hand, and Also Endless Mega Man 3" Something I always try to do is keep my fans and viewers informed if something has gone pear shaped on my end.  I do a lot of info updates on my social media, mostly Twitter these days, Tumblr if I need more room to talk.  If however something is going to cause very long delays, I try to upload update videos to fully discuss things.  This particular update video was, sadly, due to having to take time away to deal with the aftermath of my mum's elderly aunt passing away.

2013 : "Mega Man Maximum Demo - Bell Man Stage" Okay, so I cheated a little on this one.  There was actually a video in 2013 that came earlier than this, but it was a short five minute audio only update in which I discussed the then "secret project" (Eternal Darkness Blind Run) taking longer than expected to finish up.  During the downtime, I ended up recording this demo.  It was really nicely done, though sadly, I haven't heard much since about progress on the game.  It's one that honestly I wish had gotten finished, it seemed quite promising.

2014 : "Where Has the Dragon Been? - The Medical Lowdown" The first vid for this year wasn't even in January, and ow, there was a good reason for it.  This was the era of Appendageddon.  For those not in the know, late December of 2013, my appendix went boom.  So during January, I was under strict orders to take things easy after the surgery.  By February, the stitches were out, everything was healing well, and I was finally starting to get back to normal routines, and so I was able to finally tell the tale of my apparently horrifically large mutant appendix that had somehow wrapped itself around other organs.  Seriously my doctor couldn't resist telling everyone stories about how unusual it was.  It was kinda weird yo and squicked me out a good bit.  And then he wanted to show me pictures he apparently took...  Thanks no.

2015 : "Let's Play Silent Hill Homecoming - Pt 34 - Hard Mode : the Abridged Version" Generally, I finish my horror LPs during October, November at the latest.  Of course, this doesn't count issues of technical difficulties like Silent Hill Shattered Memories or Resident Evil's Advance Mode.  Sadly, this delay had nothing to do with technical difficulties.  In early November of 2014, when I had been working on the Silent Hill Homecoming LP, my aunt passed away in the hospital, losing her long battle with cancer.  This loss hit my family hard, so I had to take a good bit of time off for this one.

2016 : "Let's Play Megaman Battle Network 4 - Pt 76 - Grinding and Gunplay" Hoo boy.  The MMBN4 project.  This one took a LONG time to finish.  Seriously, this project lasted 90 vids, stretching from Part 1 on March 1, 2015, to Part 90 on July 11, 2016.  To be fair, there were phases where I simply couldn't work on it due to things like our house's central air conditioning going out during an intense summer heat wave (yeah, wearing headphones in that was not fun) or taking breaks for things like that year's October horror project, but also, a lot of periods of burnout.  When I say I want to wait to do MMBN5 until I truly feel like it?  This kind of thing is why.  I'm not quite ready to throw myself into that long of a project again just yet.

2017 : "Let's Play Spyro 2 : Ripto's Rage - Pt 18 - Regurgitate" Mostly what this reminds me is that I still need to take some time to do more testing with the Elgato card I now have so that I can hopefully do more PS2 and Gamecube era stuff again.  I really want to get projects like Spyro 3 and Pikmin 2 going.  Still also really hoping Spyro Reignited Trilogy gets a Switch release...  As far as channel related stuff for this one, I don't remember too much going on around this point in time, just the average "working on the current project" type thing.

2018 : "Make a Good Mega Man Level 2 Blind Run - Pt 10 - Chomp Man" Another lengthy project, and another where things got delayed through January.  This time, it was our internet connection breaking.  Good ol' HughesNet, they're just the best.  This had been after the lengthy setup of trying to get my room rearranged so I could get Groose (my current computer) up and running, which was experiencing a lot of delays due to the unfortunate fact that my step-uncle was in and out of the hospital.  Sadly, in March of 2018, we lost him as well.  The last ten years have definitely seen a lot of changes in our household.  This project itself would also see further delays due to our internet breaking again to where I couldn't upload videos for awhile for some reason, and one of Groose's cooling fans breaking.

2019 : "Let's Play Cuphead - Pt 14 - The Haunted Mouse (1941)" And so, here we are on my 11th year of work.  It's been quite a ride, and one I hope to continue for quite some time to come.  I just want to thank all my fans, viewers, and supporters, whether you've been with me since the humble days of 2009, or if you've just joined us here on the channel.  Your continued support and enjoyment of my work is truly what keeps me going, and hopefully there will be plenty more fun to be had in the years to come.

[ranissupercool]

Tenshi’s Pretty Nice - Ch. 1

Fandom: Touhou Characters: Hinanawi Tenshi, Kazami Yuuka Relationships: Platonic YuukaTenshi Rating: Teen and up Word Count: 2,506 Summary: Yuuka Kazami gets a visit from some delinquent celestial. Surprisingly enough, things don't go too horribly between them.

This is the first and currently only chapter, which will be added onto at my own leisure. Ships are currently undecided, but things will get gay in future chapters. Most likely.

Read on Ao3! (recommended; my current blog theme isn’t great for fic reading)

“You, with the watering can! You’re Kazami Yuuka, right?”

“...And who is asking, exactly?” The youkai who was indeed named Kazami Yuuka raised an eyebrow as she looked from her garden to… well, she wasn’t really sure what she was looking at here. A girl with a glowing sword standing on a giant floating rock? Kids sure were getting weird, nowadays…

“Oh, me? Hinanawi Tenshi, of course! I’m sure you’ve heard of me.”

She seemed self-important, didn’t she. The name did ring a bell, though. “Yes, I believe I have. What was it they said about you? Right, a ‘useless celestial who only caused trouble’. Those were the Hakurei’s words, mind you.”

“E-- Eh? Wait, she said that about me?” The loud girl suddenly became quiet, giving a small yet pitiful frown that made even Yuuka somewhat uncomfortable. After the first impression she’d just been given, she didn’t expect that kind of reaction.

“...Anyways, why are you here? It seemed like you needed me for something.”

“O-Oh! Yeah! I wanted to challenge you, Kazami Yuuka, to a duel!” Apparently trying to pretend the previous bit of the conversation just didn’t happen, she flipped her hair behind her shoulder and grinned at Yuuka. “There’s so many lowly plebs here on the surface that it’s been so hard finding a decent challenge around here. I hear you’re not bad with danmaku, yeah? I wanna see if you’re close to my skill level.”

“Is that so.” Yuuka gave it some thought, eyeing the rock floating dangerously close to her garden. “Let me finish watering everything, and I suppose I could indulge you. As long as you behave.”

“I gotta wait? How annoying…”

Yuuka shrugged and continued with her watering. Of course, she had to keep an eye on Tenshi, but she didn’t seem in too much of a rush despite her complaint. “Patience is a virtue. As I’m sure you know already.”

“Yeah, yeah. You know, I could totally get everything here and in the field watered really fast. I can summon rain, you know? Although only as a thunderstorm.”

“Are we going to duel in the middle of a storm, then? That doesn’t sound very pleasant.”

“That’s… not what I was going for, but that sounds really fun, actually.”

“I’d rather not. Just wait, alright?”

Yuuka saw Tenshi shrug out of the corner of her eye, muttering “maybe another time” as the conversation trailed off. The rest of the plant-watering went smoothly, Tenshi simply sitting and watching. By the time she’d finished and exchanged the watering can for her usual parasol, Yuuka could tell that Tenshi was getting rather antsy.

“Right, then. If you’d come with me?” She led Tenshi off to a nearby open area where fighting would be much less likely to damage any flowers or the like, then turned and gave her a smile. “You were much more behaved than I expected, considering your apparent reputation. I’ve got plenty of time now, so I can play as much as you’d like… though I can’t promise I’ll be exactly what you’re expecting from me.”

“Pssh. I’m only a troublemaker when I want to cause trouble,” Tenshi stated smugly. Yuuka wasn’t so sure, but she wouldn’t argue the point. “Y’know, somehow, I get the feeling you’re looking at me like I’m just some kid that wants to play. That’s fine, though~ Just means this is an opportunity to teach you just how strong a noble celestial such as myself can be. Now then, come at me and don’t hold back!”

…

Yuuka kneeled down in front of the fallen celestial, Tenshi staring past her into the sky. Along with that, she had a satisfied smile on her face, seeming a lot more relaxed than she had been since approaching Yuuka in the first place. “So? Are you finished?”

“Yeah, I don’t think I can move anymore. My whole body hurts!”

“You say that with such a smile on your face. Are you some sort of masochist?”

“Mas what? What’s that?”

...Ah. Yuuka had been intending to tease Tenshi a little, but the genuine confusion in Tenshi’s voice caught her off-guard. “Don’t worry about it. I must compliment you, though; you lasted much longer than most I’ve dueled with.”

“Mm.” Tenshi took her eyes away from the clouds in the sky to meet Yuuka’s eyes. “Celestials have much stronger bodies than most mortals. I’d like to think I’m particularly tough among us, so my body can take lots of abuse!”

Frowning, Yuuka brought her hands down underneath Tenshi’s arms and lifted her up into a sitting position. “Don’t say that so proudly. Your fighting technique, while not unimpressive, is still very much lacking the finesse I would expect of a celestial, and you’re rather predictable, at that. Not to mention reckless.”

“Whadd’ya mean reckless?”

“What kind of spell card battle involves people hurling rocks around like that? Your nose is bleeding from when you accidentally hit yourself in the face with one.”

“O-Okay, fair point. Is it really?” Tenshi reached up and wipe a bit of blood from her face and onto her hand to see. “Oh. It is. Whoops…”

At that moment, a very unsubtle growling sound came from Tenshi’s stomach, loud enough for the both of them to hear.

“...Come on.” Yuuka giggled at the light blush tinting Tenshi’s cheeks, then took Tenshi’s non-bloodied hand and helped her up. “Let me take you inside and get you fixed up. If you’d like, you can stay for dinner as well.”

“Uh… S-- Sure? Yeah, that’d be nice…”

Yuuka brought a dazed Tenshi into her house, the walk not being long since they’d met just outside of it to begin with. She left Tenshi for a moment to grab some bandages and things, and she got to work patching Tenshi up as soon as she returned.

“...You know, you’re a lot different than I expected you to be,” Tenshi admitted as Yuuka treated one of the two whole knees that she’d skinned in the fight. “Most of the people I asked said you were dangerous and that I shouldn’t go looking for you. I expected someone more scary, I guess?”

“Are you disappointed?”

“N-- No, nothing like that. Just, uh… Geez, I dunno. I don’t know why I brought it up…”

“Well, it’s true that a lot of people think those things about me. I wouldn’t necessarily say they’re far off, exactly.”

“What do you mean?”

Yuuka smirked and leaned in, whispering into Tenshi’s ear, “How naive… I’ve gotten you defenseless and at my mercy, haven’t I? And you came into my house without questioning a thing.”

“E-- Eh?” She noticed Tenshi tense, and she pulled back away to look at her. Her face had reddened slightly, and it was rather clear that she was at a loss for words.

“Too easy,” Yuuka said simply, giving Tenshi a pat on the head. “Relax. I’m kidding.”

Tenshi still seemed unsure what to say, but she was at least relieved, letting out a small sigh. How cute… not to mention easy to read.

“...Or am I?” At the startled look on the other’s face, Yuuka chuckled.

“Wha-- H-Hey, not funny! Besides, you think I’d be scared of you? No way!”

“Let’s not forget just how beaten-up you are right now. And I came out completely unscathed.”

“Th-That’s not true…” Yuuka could see Tenshi desperately looking over her form for any injuries. She waited for Tenshi to do so until her wrist was unexpectedly grabbed. “Right, here! You’re bleeding, see?”

“What?” Yuuka, rather confused, looked down at her arm and didn’t at all see what Tenshi was trying to point out. “And where, exactly, might this blood be…?”

“Er, I guess it is kinda dried up by now, and it’d be hard to see…” Leaning over a bit, Tenshi reached to the back of her upper arm and pressed down on a specific spot-- not quite a cut, but likely a pretty bad scrape, causing sudden pain and a small grunt from Yuuka.

Of course, she wouldn’t just admit that it hurt, so she kept a straight face as she replied, “Oh. I didn’t notice.” She hadn’t, and it didn’t even hurt very much now, either. She’d just been startled.

“Seriously? I bet you’re just trying to act tough… Gimme that.” She took the bandage roll from Yuuka. “Now turn around and take your shirt off.”

“That’s… not really necessary… Do you even know what you’re doing with that?”

“Duh, it’s not that hard. Now c’mon. You did me, so lemme do you.”

Yuuka sighed, then turned away from Tenshi and removed her shirt. She did sort of want to see the damage done to the article of clothing, anyways, and how much of a pain it would be to fix up. Gah, bloodstains… With that, Tenshi began to wrap up her wound pretty much immediately.

...She really didn’t know what she was doing, huh. Well, whatever. It wasn’t very comfortable, but Yuuka would just let her do whatever, for now. Later, she’d have to show her how to properly treat wounds, though, if this girl was going to get into fights as frequently as it seemed.

Soon enough, she was shoddily bandaged up and Tenshi chuckled, patting Yuuka’s arm carelessly. She was lucky Yuuka was so tolerant to pain… “There we go, good as new!”

“Right… Do you have any preferences for dinner?”

“Uhh… I dunno, not really. Just no peaches! I’ve decided that I won’t be eating peaches while I’m on the surface.”

“...Hm?” Yuuka raised an eyebrow, turning back to Tenshi with a dubious expression. “Didn’t... you eat a peach during our duel? Not to mention another one seems to have grown in its place on your hat...”

“Ah, no, that’s different. That was a heaven peach, and it was a part of my spell card. It’s a body toughening-type thing. But all heaven really has is peaches, so I want to try a lot of different foods while I’m here. I’ve basically forgotten what most things taste like, since it’s all been drowned out by peaches and sake.”

“Well, alright, that’s doable. Just don’t expect anything incredibly exotic… I’ll get started on cooking now, alright? You can wait here. Walking around the house is fine, just don’t snoop or take anything...”

Tenshi hummed in acknowledgement, and Yuuka left to make dinner. What exactly to make, though…?

Well, no reason to do anything over-the-top. Something simple should be fine, since it didn’t seem like Tenshi had eaten many different sorts of foods to begin with. Would something like pork or chicken be fine?

...Was meat fine for celestials to eat? Maybe she should have asked earlier. Although- if sake was fine, meat probably was too.

Midway through the cooking, Tenshi wandered into the kitchen. She leaned over some counter space Yuuka wasn’t using and watched her for a moment before speaking up.

“I got bored waiting, so can I help?”

“Not really,” Yuuka replied without hesitation. Maybe a little hastily-- Tenshi frowned, looking rather offended at being shot down so quickly. “I’ve already done most of what I could be helped with, I mean. Besides, I doubt you have much experience with this sort of thing.”

“...Meh, can’t argue that, I guess.”

“If you really want something to do, you could set the table…” She gestured towards the dining table. “Make sure it’s clean, though. I don’t use it a lot, so it collects dust sometimes…”

“Got iiiiit,” Tenshi replied, sounding very unenthusiastic for someone who was asking to help out in the first place. With a few minor instructions on where things are and where things should be set, dinner was soon made and served, both Yuuka and Tenshi taking seats adjacent to each other.

“Whoah, this really smells nice. Is this some kind of meat?” Tenshi asked, poking at her food with her chopsticks.

“It’s pork, yes. Is that fine?”

Tenshi quickly nodded. “Yeah, for sure. I haven’t eaten meat in like, forever. I just uh, expected you to be some kind of vegetarian, I guess, somehow.” Yuuka shrugged. Was it just because of the green…? She was a youkai, after all, and vegetarian youkai weren’t exactly common. “Well anyways, thanks a bunch--” With that, she dug in. After confirming that Tenshi wasn’t going to get carried away and choke on anything, Yuuka began to eat as well.

It was a nice dinner. Small talk occasionally cropped up, most instances of such initiated by Tenshi, but it was probably the quietest she’d been since she suddenly appeared to Yuuka earlier. Of course, that was only because her mouth was busy getting stuffed with food…

Her food finished and Tenshi’s long gone, Yuuka stood and took the dishes off of the table and to the sink to wash them.

“Oh yeah, Yuuka?”

“Mm?”

“You never told me what a masochist was.”

“...I didn’t.”

“Well, I still wanna know. Tell me.”

Yuuka rolled her eyes. What weird timing, as well… “Ask one of your other friends. I’m sure they would explain it better than myself,” she replied, not wanting to deal with this. Besides, it would be pretty funny if she actually did do that…

“Yeah? Well, alright… It wasn’t some kinda insult, right?”

“Are you worried about that?”

“W-Well--” Tenshi let out a huff, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. “Not worried. Just wondering.”

“Hmhm. It’s not an insult.”

Tenshi had a skeptical look as she peered over at Yuuka. “...If you say so. But if I hear it is, I’m gonna come back here and kick your ass.”

“Mhm, mhm. I’m sure you will.”

“...” Tenshi went quiet after that for quite some time, and just when Yuuka had finished up the dishes and was wondering when Tenshi was going to be leaving, she stood from her seat. “Well, I can probably go home now… Or rather, should, I guess. It’s getting pretty late.”

“Indeed.” Yuuka found herself wondering exactly whether it was fine for someone like Tenshi to just be hanging around on Earth with no supervision, but she figured it wasn’t worth questioning. Besides, despite her “delinquent” reputation, she was well-behaved at Yuuka’s home, and that’s all she really cared about. “You’ll be fine getting home by yourself, I presume?”

“Yep. See ya.” She strolled on over to the door with a lazy wave, and just like that, Tenshi left. Yuuka was alone again, and though Tenshi’s company was surprisingly pleasant, she still let out a small sigh of relief. She could relax now, hopefully...

Well, only for a minute or so, after which the door was hastily re-opened, Tenshi poking her head in. “I forgot, but I’m totally coming back for a rematch later, okay? You’d better be ready!”

Before Yuuka could respond, the door was shut again. She stood where she was for a good couple of minutes just to make sure Tenshi wasn’t going to abruptly pop in again, before cracking a small smile and chuckling.

What a weirdo.

[sonofdysonsphere]

Heat Wave In Mundane Times

Merry Christmas @mostlyscrutable , I was your @touhousecretsanta this year, and I hope I have fulfilled your request by providing a glimpse of a mundane day with my favourite ordinary magician. Research and running her “shop”, on top of side projects and handling the fallout of her “borrowing” habits, I realized after completion that a pet peeve of yours was “darkness”, but I don’t think this is the darkness you were referring to. Set in a time of the year opposite to when I wrote this (it is quite cold here in canada), I had put a lot of thought into which character’s day to write about, eventually realizing that with the stress of working retail through the holidays, the only way I would  reach my word count goal would be to write about a character I am quite invested in (though after being unable to discern your favourite touhou through some investigation I am quite curious who it is). The other three characters were chosen with the help of some friends and all their hair happens to be white. Odd. This preface ended up longer than I intended, so I will wrap it up with: Merry Christmas, and may all your small adventures expand into a journey pleasantly grand.

The land of Gensokyo was like a piece of meat in a food dehydrator. The heat wave had been going for so long it would not be strange if two blades of wilted grass were caught fighting over a single drop of water. Amid the sun scorched lands remained a strange building standing in solitude in the Forest of Magic; the Kirisame Second-hand Magic Shop, which doubled as the home of the mundane Marisa Kirisame. A derelict sign adorned the building simply stating the name of the shop with an ominous “what will you do” scrawled underneath. Inside one of the windows, past the crack in the drawn curtains, a single hanging lantern could be seen offering its light to a solitary occupant working at a desk, and dimly outlining many items in a disorderly pile behind the desk.

The sun was directly overhead when the infamous shop's first visitor of the day approached the entrance, the shadows of two swords cast beneath her. A pitiful bell was the only provided fanfare to accompany the sound of the door opening and closing, drawing the attention of the shop owner, Marisa Kirisame.

“Welcome! Oh, it's the gardener with the big sword sheers.” Marisa looked up from her work desk, where several unfinished projects crowded the space around what currently held her attention, a handwritten notebook.

“Good morning,” Youmu Konpaku remained ignorant of any attempted mocking Marisa intended. “Well, I guess it is afternoon now...”

“What can I do for you? Youkai extermination? Or perhaps something strange has been happening lately?” The ordinary magician was already growing impatient with her guest who had not even been present a full minute in her shop. To her, anything was more interesting than sitting at home all day.

“I'm looking for...” Youmu's eyes were adjusting to the dark interior even as they scanned the disorganized mess that was the main room of the shop. “A pair of garden sheers.”

“Garden sheers? How bland.” Marisa did absolutely nothing to hide her enormous disappointment. “Something like that wouldn't be around a shop like this.”

“I would be sure of that if there was more light in here. It is so dark anyone would suspect you were growing mushrooms in here.” As the statement left her mouth, a glean of metal among the pile of random goods caught Youmu's eye, drawing her around the desk and two steps closer to the pile.

“People like to suspect a lot of things.” The bored shop owner did nothing to stop Youmu's tighter inspection in the faint room.

“Like how you are unable to keep your hands off of things that are not yours?” Offering those words, Youmu unceremoniously removed a pair of fine silvery garden sheers from the mess of items. The pile shifted and settled, reaching an idle equilibrium without outside assistance. A hum of consideration is all the infamous magician could give in response as Youmu took back her item and headed for the exit before:

“If you get wind of anything strange happening be sure to come by and visit again!”

And the door closed behind the half-ghost visitor with a small swirl of dried dust.

* * *

Time passed in the sweltering temperature of midday, the warmth working through the shop's walls and roof and permeating the interior, forcing the dim shop's denizen to hang up her hat and vest on a nearby coat rack. Still working diligently on different star patterns in her notebook, a cordial set of firm knocks at her shop's door caused her to put the work aside once more.

“Come in!” Marisa found herself on her feet, leaning over her desk with her hands poised on its surface as if ready for Youmu to return with news of some new incident.

Entering the shop with the same gentle bell ring as the previous visitor was the white haired maid, Sakuya Izayoi, completely devoid of any signs of sweat or fatigue despite the stifling conditions outside.

“Good afternoon.” The immaculate head servant of the Scarlet Devil Mansion stood just inside the threshold, where Marisa rushed to meet her.

“Something terrible has happened, right?” Boredom drove the golden haired magician's manic tone as she pressed herself into Sakuya's personal space with her hands outstretched towards her.

“I'm sorry?” Sakuya responded as her mind attempted to catch up to the conversation Marisa was trying to hold with her. “I'm here to retrieve the mistress' parasol that has been missing since around the last time you came to borrow books from the library.”

Marisa deflated rapidly, falling to her guest's feet, despairing at the boredom the overly hot season had created. Nobody would ever want to cause trouble in this much heat!

Sakuya, on the other hand, did not skip a beat.

“On that subject, you are aware that Patchouli's library is not a public library and is only a private library, correct?” With no response from the hatless and vestless magician at her feet, Sakuya now considered for a moment what she could have said to elicit a response such as this.

“Marisa?”

“Yes...?” The feeble response Marisa gave worried Sakuya that the usually energetic youkai exterminator had began succumbing to heat stroke.

“Do you have another lantern we could light? I won't be able to find the mistress' parasol like this. It's so dark that mushrooms could grow in here.”

“Why is everyone saying that today?” Immediately perking up, more out of spite than overcoming her dejected mood, Marisa rose to her feet and whisked back to her desk.

“I couldn't say.” Sakuya's eyes had adjusted to the darkened interior, and as Youmu before her, moved to the pile behind Marisa's workstation and retrieved the item she had come calling for. As she removed a fine parasol adorned with obvious vampiric designs, the pile underwent a similar shifting and balancing as it had earlier. “You should really change the name of this shop to something akin to 'Kirisame Lost and found' instead of 'Magic Shop'.”

“There is magical stuff here too!” According to Sakuya, Marisa seemed almost back her normal self with that indignant retort.

“Indeed there is,” The perfect maid could not conceal the slightly devious inflection in her voice as she verbally cornered the now somewhat restored Shop Keeper, “like these books belonging to Patchouli that I was told to keep an eye out for.”

Scooping up the books along with the parasol, Sakuya moved towards the door, opening it before stopping on the threshold.

“You should find an activity to keep cool but still be active during this heat wave.” The Scarlet Devil Mansion Head Servant suggested with concern.

“To keep cool I think I will start with not having my front door left open.”

Sakuya nodded, bid the sour Golden Magician farewell, and exited before closing the shops door behind her.

“AND IF YOU HEAR OF ANY STRANGE INCIDENT BE SURE TO TELL ME!” Marisa yelled to the closed door as an afterthought.

* * *

Several more hours passed and it seemed the heat of midday had decided to persist long into the early evening. Many more pages of Marisa's notebook had been filled with star patterns emboldened with the power of love, leaving nothing in their superfluous designs to be desired by their designer, save for the lack of drive to continue their development even further. Her drawing brush had rolled to the edge of her desk, where it teetered on the cusp of falling, and her notebook sat open with an impressively scrawled spell card concept left in plain sight for no one but herself to admire.

So lost in tedium, Marisa's heat addled brain barely recognized the sound of the entrance bell tinking softly, and the wave of heat that accompanied someone entering the shop.

“I'm hoping you are still open.” The voice that snapped Marisa out of her stupor belonged to the Drug Maker of Eientei, Eirin Yagokoro.

“This shop only closes on specific national holiday's, like the 18th day of March.” Marisa reassured cryptically. “And in times of crisis such as during an incident.”

“That's good to hear.” Eirin's speech seemed to be at ease. “I was hoping to purchase some mushrooms from you.”

“Why does everyone think I am growing...” Marisa stopped with a resigned pause. “Okay fine, I AM growing mushrooms in here, but why should I sell them to you?”

“Well I need them for some medicine I am making.” Eirin's eyes shot to the hoard of stuff behind Marisa's desk, before she set a bag of clinking coins onto the surface between them. “And while I brought coin to pay for all that you have grown in this dark and dank shop, I figured you would enjoy a different kind of payment.”

From inside her large medicine satchel, Eirin produced a handful of thick hardbound books, each pulsing audibly or visually with arcane energy.

The response from the book hungry Marisa was immediate and obvious, but her keen shop keeping tendencies held strong.

“What kind of drug will you be making from these mushrooms?” The tone of the inquiry was hard lined and left no room for evasive wording.

“I will be attempting to make a drug for my Lady Kaguya that slows the apparent passage of time.” Eirin answered honestly and earnestly, seeing no profit in spewing falsehoods.

A contemplative hum was the response that Marisa gave before:

“Okay, I will trade the mushrooms for the books you brought and a vial of the drug when you have finished it.”

Regardless of what use a bored Marisa had with a drug that slowed the perception of time, it was Eirin's turn to contemplate the offer before her.

“That sounds fair enough.” Was Eirin's decisive answer.

If Marisa was more in control of her own perceptive faculties, she may have suspected that Eirin had a secondary goal to be realized in this deal, but instead she took her books and the promise of some strange drug at face value as payment enough for the secretly cultivated mushrooms grown within the confines of her very shop.

The mushrooms were gathered and the magical books in question were left on Marisa's work desk.

“I would recommend you start with the book on top, as it is the most intriguing among the books I provided.”

And with those words, Eirin left the shop with a bag full of mushrooms.

* * *

Despite her boredom and Eirin's suggestion to begin reading her new books, Marisa Kirisame spent the next stretch of time sitting in her chair and staring blankly at her own ceiling, completely unaware of the persisting midday heat outside. A detail which also escaped notice was the sunlight streaking through the crack in the drawn curtains had hardly moved from its noon position despite hours having passed. Only the gradual increase of temperature within the shop revealed any passage of time.

“This is so boring!” Marisa's cry rang out throughout her shop, with any discernible echo being swallowed up by the uneven and messy perimeters of the room. The exclamation was accompanied by a grand and sweaty flourish, the black and white magician's hand falling on the pile of books that were recently received as payment.

Reluctantly, Marisa gave into her habit of consuming the books before her despite her lethargy.

The book, its pages all a wonderful deep crimson red, was an provocative tale of of a person who loved the sun, succumbed to the heat of it, and rose again to take in its splendour once more.

Marisa Kirisame, magician extraordinary, stared at the conclusion for several minutes. A being that succumbed to the heat of the sun, before embracing its own revelled end and becoming perpetual heat...

The whole concept seemed hauntingly familiar.

Finally standing up from her desk, Marisa retrieved her hat and vest from where they hung and donned them. Instantaneously, the heat seemed infinitely more encompassing, like a malicious force guided the stifling temperature to dissuade any action besides sitting and stewing in ones own sweat. That was the last sign Marisa needed to know for certain:

“This is an incident.” And the Magician of White and Black was going to be the one to solve it.

Opening the door caused a blast of heat reminiscent of a hot spring she had once explored and the bell once more offered a miniscule 'twink' sound. The only thing on Marisa Kirisame's mind was how much regret whatever being was behind this abnormal heat would feel for giving her so much time to sketch scintillating star patterns in her notebook.

The door closing once more brought the interior of the Kirisame Second-hand Magic Shop to subdued illumination, the mound of “lost” items finally losing their balance and collapsing outward across the shop's floor.

A mess to be cleaned up later, after important business was complete.

[bekicotwrites]

THIS TOOK FOREVER TO DO but it’s done!! I was tagged by the lovely @piiess for this question thing. Thank you so much Pat!

I don’t really know who to tag, so if any of you who sees this post wants to do it then by all means do it. Do tag me back because I’d love to see your answers :D

Answers under the cut because it’s pretty long

01: do you have a good relationship with your parents?

I hope I do

02: who did you last say “i love you” to?

My mom I think??

03: do you regret anything?

Of course, people have regrets including me haha

04: are you insecure?

Most of the time, yes

05: what is your relationship status?

In a love-hate relationship with my thesis :”)

06: how do you want to die?

In the least painful way possible

07: what did you last eat?  

Tofu

08: played any sports?

Does typing counts as finger sports HAHAHAH #no

I do pilates sometimes but that’s it I’m a couch potato I don’t do sports that much _(:3」∠)_  

09: do you bite your nails?

I do, but not as frequent as I used to

10: when was your last physical fight?

I can’t remember

11: do you like someone?

If you mean fictional characters then Y E S.....

12: have you ever stayed up 48 hours?

I don’t think I have reached 48 hours but I think it was close to that

13: do you hate anyone at the moment?

I don’t think so??

14: do you miss someone?

Yes I do

15: have any pets?

I had 8 cacti but 3 died :c so I only have 5 of my children left

16: how exactly are you feeling at the moment?  

Tired, but I still need to work on stuff asjdfl;sdllk

17: ever made out in the bathroom?

Nope

18: are you scared of spiders?

Not at all. As a matter of fact I used to want to have a pet tarantula

19: would you go back in time if you were given the chance?

Tempted, but I don’t think I would want to. If I did go back in time though I would probably just stay in the sidelines and watch as events in my life unfold and try to reflect on it

20: where was the last place you snogged someone?

Do I really need to answer this lmao

21: what are your plans for this weekend?

I’m gonna busy with a local convention wish our group luck you guys!! My group’s going to be selling Touhou arrange music CDs (yours truly helped in the coloring of the newest album cover heheh it’s gonna be super lit with the amazing EDM music!!) and I’ll be selling stickers in the same booth.

22: do you want to have kids? how many? 

None because I’m not planning t o get married at the moment

23: do you have piercings? how many?  

None

24: what is/are/were your best subject(s)?  

I was good at English and maths during middle school and high school. Now I don’t really know hahah... My friends tell me I’m quite good at wax carving and wirebending though if that’s actually a ‘subject’. I guess I also do okay forensics odontology since it’s a subject I love.

25: do you miss anyone from your past?

Yes

26: what are you craving right now?

I actually really want a burger set meal now... and of course, decent sleep

27: have you ever broken someone’s heart?

I think I have

28: have you ever been cheated on?

Not that I know of lmao

29: have you made a boyfriend/girlfriend cry?

Sadly, yes

30: what’s irritating you right now?

WHY IS IT SO HOT HERE I know it’s summer but still omfg it’s supposed to be monsoon soon why....

31: does somebody love you?

I hope so

32: what is your favourite colour?

G R E E N

33: do you have trust issues?  

Yes I do

34: who/what was your last dream about?

I can’t remember

35: who was the last person you cried in front of?

My close friend

36: do you give out second chances too easily?

Not that easy I think. I mean if they really did fuck up then I’m definitely not gonna talk to them at all.

37: is it easier to forgive or forget?  

Forgive and never forget is one of my life mottos

38: is this year the best year of your life? 

The year hasn’t ended yet, but so far I don’t think it is.

39: how old were you when you had your first kiss?

My parents have kissed me ever since I was born heyyy

40: have you ever walked outside completely naked?

Maybe I did when I was small, but it’s just around the neighborhood. Child me did some crazy stuff apparently.

51: favourite food?

Salmon sandwich and a whole meal set of ayam bakar (Ayam bakar paha sama nasi, tahu, dan kremes. Hehe.)

52: do you believe everything happens for a reason?

Yes

53: what is the last thing you did before you went to bed last night?

Read manga lol

54: is cheating ever okay?

Not at all.

55: are you mean?

I hope not??

56: how many people have you fist fought?

I slapped a person once does that count

57: do you believe in true love?

No

58: favourite weather?

Morning rain and late night rain

59: do you like the snow?

Sometimes

60: do you wanna get married?  

Nope

61: is it cute when a boy/girl calls you baby?

Nooo omg it’s one of my pet peeves to be called ‘baby’ by anyone

62: what makes you happy?

The chance to just take time to relax by myself

63: would you change your name?

Currently, no

64: would it be hard to kiss the last person you kissed? 

My mom?? Of course not

65: your best friend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? 

Does the ‘opposite sex’ really matter? But anyways, idk maybe I’ll just act normally until said best friend talks to me about it. We’ll figure something out.

66: do you have a friend of the opposite sex (again?) who you can act your complete self around?

Yeah I do

67: who was the last person of the opposite sex you talked to?

A classmate

68: who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with?

My close friend

69: do you believe in soulmates?

No

70: is there anyone you would die for?

I sound really mean but, no

[clockworksampi]

‘Squeeze’ Commentary

Longer works always present a problem for me, which is why I so seldom write them. They exist in a separate formula entirely from the academic technicalities of one-shots, and it’s a formula I have zero insight on how to balance. Therefore, I took a lot of time and asked more people than usual to pre-read this to make sure I perform to the extent of my abilities. Theme and pacing are the two things I’m the worst at. The only thing I ever set out to do is write some gags and make some people laugh. Every time I consciously attempt to write something with a theme, it just looks preachy. Whenever I attempt pacing, it all seems slow and uninteresting. And I don’t know if the characters I write can sustain attention for longer than ten minutes. I still try, because the art of storytelling is one that is truly wonderful when done correctly. Even if I’m a long way off from doing that. I don’t want to be the pontifical asshat edifying the blithering masses because I’m so much worldlier than everyone else on this ball of mud floating in space (which is aggressively untrue), but theme and revelation are vital aspects of storytelling. Every story, even Touhou fan-fiction, needs emotional and intellectual engagement to be great. I tried to make the theme a pretty simple and transparent one. In the immortal words of the venerable Mitch Hedberg: “I’m not a fuckin’ genius for christsakes, y’know, fuckin’, just tryin’ to tell some jokes. Shit! Who the fuck are you!?” I try to live my life by that shining ethos.

 The ending fight scene with Mokou and Flandre was originally very, very different, in the sense that it didn’t exist and involved pocket dimension snowmen. It was changed several times to arrive at what it currently is. Not even joking. You can figure out for yourselves how the narrative arrived at that. I’m not sure myself. A shame, considering the original draft was rather well-written; too bad it made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

 Fun Fact: Remilia calls Yorihime ‘Yo-yohime’ because I, me the writer, actually forgot what Yorihime’s name was. 

 This work marks the first thing I’ve done where characters are actually in a relationship. I usually don’t like shipping, for the sole reason that very little of ships across the Internet are predicated upon the canon of the primary source. Although I will admit I am not without my predilections, hence why Hecatia and Junko are implied to have crushes on each other in Judgement Call. As far as I’m concerned, the only pairing in the Touhou Project that could be construed as canon is Miko and Tojiko, as they are based on two real life people who were real life married. Mokou and Keine are a thing in this because Mokou having a strong relationship with a human (well, sorta human) is an important motivation point. I pray you can forgive me for shipping.

 Of course, here am I acting all high and mighty about canon with all the liberties I took with the characters’ powers. If there’s one thing I learned from super hero comics, bending the rules and giving people power they should not have either goes over mediocre, or disastrous with little middle ground. Since progression and iteration, and the benefits and dangers that go along with them were some of the major themes of the story, I felt compelled to give the characters a little more. I did try to connect the more outlandish of things to official sources, or give them what I thought to be appropriate buildup. These things need to be sold, and I hope I sold them well enough. But maybe I’m wrong on that, and I will capitulate fully to anyone disagrees. I know Touhou canon is held extremely sacredly in fan works.

 That was sarcasm, but this is one thing I do want feedback on. Let’s get into some of the more interesting choices I made for the characters.

 Can Flandre destroy abstract concepts? Probably not, but I went with ‘she can, but hasn’t figured out how.’ And I’m pretty sure I misinterpreted how the whole ‘Eye’ thing works. I did make Eyes of abstract concepts fundamentally different than Eyes of physical things, because they are different, and they should be different to destroy.

 I agonized over giving Remilia a resistance to rain, but I hope I sold it well enough. She has shown several times in canon that she has an aversion to it, as a vampire should, and is something cataclysmic to Flandre in the work. By all accounts, this resistance should not exist, and I will admit that. However, Remilia has also shown that she has been building up a tolerance to sunlight and claims that her body is not weak. I don’t think it’s so far-fetched to assume that she is not entirely powerless to water.

 Remilia Scarlet is my favorite character, hands down, in all of Touhou. I therefore had to make doubly sure she was not given much in the way of favor. Which was a little difficult because in this work she played a puppet master, exposition style character who set up the plot of the story and, as a result, knew everything that was going to happen because of her broken-tier power. She seemed built for the role. I really don’t think I succeeded in pulling her out of the spotlight as much as I wished. Lessons for next time. I based her part largely on Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully and Lord Vetinari from the Discworld series, as the one who commands sensibility with an iron first, can be bullheaded at times and embodies the central theme of whatever story, with Sakuya being the Ponder. I’ll be honest, I don’t think I pulled the archetype off as well as the late Sir Pratchett. Here, I would probably make a joke about how his legacy living on in a fan-fiction of a bullet hell video game with an entire cast of little girls is exactly how Sir Pratchett would have wanted it, but I respect the man too much to sully his name like that.

 I think Keine got the short end of the characterization stick. She really doesn’t feel like much of a character me, more than she is a vessel to push the plot forward and exist. She’s somewhat stiff. She has a few jokes, but they’re few and far between. I don’t think I did a good job with Keine.

 I am likewise unsatisfied with how I portrayed Sakuya. She comes off as a little too serious, I think. But at the same time, she was understandably frustrated with serving Cirno.

 Speaking of Sakuya, I’ve always been a fan of the theory that she started as a vampire hunter who Remilia defeated. It strikes me as a very Remilia thing to hire the people who tried to kill you because it makes your life interesting. Have you ever noticed how Remilia’s two greatest defenders command silver knives and the rain? Makes me wonder if Meiling didn’t try to take a crack at Remilia back in the day.

 Also speaking of fan theories, I rather like the idea of Mokou smoking (don’t smoke, kids, it’ll kill you). But I even more like the idea of hand-rolled cigarette over ones from the pack; rolling your own just has a certain class to it I can’t help but admire.

 Why can Meiling make rain? Isn’t her ability controlling qi? Yes, it is. However, she is also (according to the interpretation I chose for her) a rainbow dragon. Rainbow dragons can probably control the rain, right? Flandre has the ability to destroy anything, but she is still a vampire, with all the strengths and weaknesses that comes with. Besides, don’t Meiling’s danmaku patterns revolve around plants, rainbows or rain? It seemed like a logical thing.

 I don’t know what Cirno’s accent is. This is why it changes every ten seconds.

 There are five things I specifically want critiques on: Did I go too far with artistic liberties? How was the pacing? How was the theming? Were the characters interesting throughout? What was your favorite pun? My favorite pun? Definitely a toss-up between vampires not being predisposed to reflection and Mokou solving the Incident before it got into later stages. Equivoques galore! I especially like the second one because it’s very Touhou specific. Which one was your favorite?

Also my first time doing a multi-chaptered thing. Hopefully I got the formatting down on the first go.

[draco-omega]

Touhou Randfic #2

Yuyuko + Satori, ‘Rememberance’

“Now dear, don't be shy,” Yuyuko said lightly – though Satori was beginning to suspect she knew no other tone of voice. “You can tell me all about what's troubling you.”

“I'd really rather not.”

“Oh, nonsense; everyone likes to talk about themselves. Besides, keeping things on your chest is no good at all. You might catch cold and die!”

“I'm already dead,” Satori replied flatly. “Apparently.”

It had come so gently that she'd barely even noticed the transition. She'd simply gone to bed one evening and not woken up again. And yet, on some level, perhaps she'd almost been expecting this.

The Underground had changed. Her pets had grown beyond the need for her to care for them. They'd found lives and families, moved away to the surface or carved out their own little corners of the earth to live in. Utsuho even had her own priesthood, now. People worshipped her as the Savior of the Underground, the Second Sun and the light the ushers in the future. She'd been devoted and benevolent and more than Satori could have ever hoped she would become. She had full confidence that her and Rin would keep the place running better than she ever had herself.

And she'd just felt so tired. When the world kept moving on while you stayed tucked away in your hollow little prison, was there even any point to continuing? On some level, perhaps she'd even welcomed this.

And thus it was extremely vexing to find herself having tea and pastries foisted upon her by a woman who just wouldn't take no for an answer.

“I have a great deal of experience at this, you know,” Yuyuko continued. “Why, I'm sure I've been listening to the souls of the departed for at least....” She made a show of counting off fingers. “...thirty years? Or was it 3000? Oh well, they're much the same in the end, really.” She smiled helplessly.

“And I'm sure there's someone else who'd be thrilled to have the attention. Why don't you go talk to them instead.”

“Nonsense! You're an honored guest here; a fellow shepherd of lost souls.” She held out a soft pink manjuu and smiled at her. “You really must try one of these. They're absolutely delightful.”

Did ghosts even have a sense of taste, Satori wondered. Yuyuko certainly made a good show of pretending, though Satori hadn't trusted words or smiles since she was a child – it was a lesson her kind all learned quickly. Hearts were the only things that couldn't lie, which was what made this encounter particularly bothersome.

Yuyuko's mind was unlike any she'd ever glanced at – wispy and ephemeral, like shadows dancing in the mist. Often, she said things before she'd appeared to think of them at all and never once let a glimpse of her real self slip past the fog and lightsome smiles; it made for a strangely disconcerting conversation.

“You know,” Yuyuko said, “one normally only shows up looking as much like their living self if they regret something.”

“Everyone regrets things. Everyone.” Her parents, her pets, the oni in their revelry and even those humans who'd long ago come to punish her complacency. “That is not a flaw or a failing; that is life.”

She stared at Yuyuko again, Ghost Princess of the Netherworld for over a thousand years – as impeccably courteous as she was inscrutable. “And what of you, then? If it takes regret to hold this form for a week, then how much must it take to last a millennium? What is your regret?”

“Regret? Me?” Yuyuko just smiled at her and took another bite of her manjuu. “Why, how could I feel regret when the wisteria are so lovely this morning. Youmu did an absolutely masterful job of the garden this year, wouldn't you agree?”

Satori tried again to get a sense of what was going on in that impossible mind of Yuyuko's, but it was just as futile as ever. And so, after a few more moments of pointed silence, she finally accepted the proffered confection and discovered that it tasted rather lovely, after all. Somehow this annoyed her too, for reasons she couldn't quite understand.

“They'll mourn you, you know,” Yuyuko said, sipping at her tea. “Though I suppose you ought to know that better than anyone, hmmm?” Her eyes flickered meaningfully towards Satori's third eye. Someone else might have frowned at that point, but Satori had spent centuries not letting her emotions reach her face. And yet, glancing at the ghost princess's expression, she felt that perhaps even that wasn't quite enough this time.

Of course she knew her pets would miss her. How could they not; they loved her, at least as much as anyone ever had. But if she'd been some kind of sorry excuse for a mother to them, then there was always going to come a time when they'd outgrow her. That was just the way of things. They'd mourn her and then they'd move on. They'd live full and rich lives on their own terms, just as she'd always known they would.

That wasn't what she regretted.

Yuyuko smiled at her again. There was a strange gentleness to it this time – an earnestness, immediately unlike all the wispy pleasantries she'd offered before. Satori felt oddly naked before it – as if she were the one whose heart was on display to another whose mind she couldn't quite reach. It was a feeling she'd had just once before – once, when all her centuries of practiced stoicism had failed to keep the tears from her eyes.

“Now,” Yuyuko whispered softly, “why don't you tell me about your sister.”

[kaikeidou-backstage-blog]

Touhou Kaikeidou Side Story: "Servants of the Feast" - Final Dance (2)

BGM: Albus Camellia

 ---

 --

 -

 I walked through the supposed "wall," without a trace of fear or hesitation. Unsurprisingly, it turned out to be an illusion. If I had to say one way or another, it felt like a kind of mirage.

 "...Fool. You have kept me waiting too long."

 And immediately after passing through the wall, the first thing to reach my ears is verbal abuse. I become more nervous at the harsh words, instantly forgetting the relaxed atmosphere from a moment ago.

 "...That said, though, I must commend you for making it all the way here. A marvelous feat, for a human. You truly have met my expectations."

 A single woman was waiting for me, sitting in the small, box-like room beyond the illusory wall. She has a black kimono with gold trim, sharp and bewitching eyes gazing in my direction, and an utterly oppressive atmosphere around her... she feels completely different from the pair in the previous corridor.

 "You've been so kind as to finally arrive. 'How many times' did you fight my sisters before coming here? Surely not just once or twice, I imagine?"

 At her words, my memories flowed back into me, almost audibly. That's right; I've visited the Kaikeidou many times before. The story I'd just lived through had played out too many times to even care about counting.

 "Now, seeing as your memories have returned, allow me to introduce myself. I am the eldest sister of the mermaids who you've struggled against until now... my name is Owari."

  The Eldest "Sea" Sister: Owari Kai

 "...Hello."

 I can hardly speak. In the wake of my restored memory, and especially Owari-san's ominous atmosphere, my mouth is shut tight. It's not out of terror, but not reverence either. Why is it so hard for me to move...?

 "In any event, as the eldest Kai sister, allow me to give my sincerest thanks for your arrival. If this were, by some chance, your first time visting us, I'd be obliged to offer you a drink..."

 Right. I'm sure I've visited the Kaikeidou over 100 times, at the very least, thus far. But this is the first time I've reached this room. Why so many times...? And why come here at all?

 "I can tell by our guest's face that they desire an explanation. Shall we, then?"

 With that, Owari-san claps twice. All the sisters of hers who I previously met begin filing into the room.

 "So it was you after all, Eldest Sister!"

 "I had been wondering about this since our guest mentioned that turtle..."

 "So, Elder Sister Owari brought this human here... Huh......"

 "Ooh, ooh, I know this person! They showed up right in front of us just today!"

 "You straight-up forgot about them, huh...?"

 "I did explain the situation to several of my sisters. However, I requested that Lady Otohime change the cause and effect of the ones who would have otherwise something slip."

 "Just what did you want me here for, exactly?"

 At my question, Owari-san took a single breath, then began to explain.

 ---Despite the many years that have passed since the Kaikeidou was brought into being, this place is only known to a scant few people. None of whom were able to make our power more concrete, at that. All of us, even a goddess of the sea, even these apparitions known as mermaids, draw our power from 'humanity's knowledge of us'. If there are no humans around to perceive us, we too will naturally disappear.

 "Fewer and fewer people know of the Kaikeidou's existence any longer. At this rate, it'll be quite troublesome for our Great Mother, let alone us sisters."

 "So, these daughters of mine reported to me, and asked to 'let them do anything they could to help me'..."

 The blue-clad woman I'd only just met appeared from behind me. Right as she did, the lined-up sisters all knelt and faced her at once.

 "Sorry for introducing myself so late. I am the Kaikeidou's resident sea goddess, Mikoto Yaobi."

 She smiles slightly as she speaks. Wait, a sea goddess? GODDESS? Why would someone like that want an audience with some human...?

 "It was I, not our Great Mother, who brought you here. Our Mother only listened to our request to help."

 "O-okay, but wait! Why me, though? I mean, I...!"

 "Indeed. At this moment, I suppose you're thinking, 'why would she want me, when I was going to drown myself...?'"

 I startle at Owari-san's statement, and then remember just what it was that I'd been preparing to do on that beach.

 "A human like that would surely never forget the sight that stretched before them at the moment their life was about to end. That's why I placed my bet on you. I wanted someone who would never forget us, taking that memory with them their whole life... just one single human who would never forget the Kaikeidou."

 What had I come to that beach to do, and why was I here, standing opposite these inhuman beings...? ...I felt the puzzle slowly coming together in my head. And as it did, I nearly spat my next question.

 "...I'm all alone in this world. I don't have anyone left any more. What would be so great about... about having someone like THAT remember you?"

 "We were watching you all along, from down here in the seabed. It's true that you're alone now, but... you're not the only person who is. There are others, too. Others who would know what it's like. And, furthermore, you're the one person who we can rely on now. We, too, are on the verge of becoming our only source of support."

 "That's exactly why we bet our existence on yours, and yours on ours. As two parties who each only have themselves."

 "......So, what do you want me to do? Worship you as sea gods or something?"

 Lady Mikoto and Owari-san both shake their heads in response.

 "You don't have to do anything, really. If you've found us to your liking, you may come and stay here."

 "Should you dive into the sea of your own accord and find your way to the Kaikeidou, we'll be sure to welcome you."

 "You don't have to stay, either. Should you return to the surface, you need not pay us any further heed. And, should you still choose to go through with your own drowning... we won't blame you for that."

 "This whole commotion was caused by us, after all, for our own self-serving reasons. If our existence fades away as a result, then that too can be called fate."

 "We have just one request."  "Just this one."

 ---We pray that you will not forget about us. Until the moment your life ends, whenever that may be.

 "Shall I, Mother?"  "Yes."

 The two of them exchange glances, and Owari-san steps forward.

 "Now... carve our very existence into your memory. We no longer have any need to re-write those memories of yours; see everything that's about to happen... and remember every last second...!"

 Owari-san kicks off the floor, soaring high ito the air. The whole room around us is suddenly filled with water; the walls and doors melt into sea foam. I reflexively hold my breath, but after a few seconds, I realize I can breathe just fine.

 ---As a servant of Yaobi, I shall hereby bet on this white camellia, and dance with this human.

 ---My sisters, I beseech thee... Watch how the eldest daughter of Kai lives, and burn it into your eyes.

 ---And I beseech thee, human... See this glimpse of the Kaikeidou's truest dance, and etch it into your body!

  Feeling as if I was flying, I joined in for one final dance.

[toho-literature]

Curiosities of Lotus Asia - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Illusionary Bird

Marisa visited Kourindou carrying one of the beautiful crested ibises that had been increasing in number in Gensokyo lately. After catching it near Hakurei Shrine, Marisa was planning to cook it and eat it with Reimu. In the now lively Kourindou, the owner Rinnosuke was immersed in thought about the reason for the increase in the ibises...

Chapter 2 of an original story based on the Touhou series!

Illusionary Bird

“Hey, Kourin! What's up? Today's our routine hot pot day!”

She shouted as she threw open the door. As far as I'm concerned, today's Animal Protection Day.

“Oh, it's you, Marisa? What's the meaning of coming here and claiming this to be a 'hot pot day'?”

Marisa showed me what she had in her right hand, and there it was, a limp, red-and-white lump...

Some way from the Human Village in Gensokyo is the Forest of Magic, and close by this forest is my shop, Kourindou. In other words, it's halfway between where the humans live and where the youkai are. I thought that I could do business with both humans and youkai in this location, but the truth is that I almost never have clients of either kind. Well, it gets lively at times, but...

“Isn't that a crested ibis? What happened?”

“Yeah, I caught it by the shrine. Reimu's preparin' stuff for the hot pot, so she'll be late.”

“And why did you decide to meet at my place? You never even asked.”

“What are you talkin' about? This'll make a great meal! Sure, he looks a bit worse for the wear, but...”

The crested ibis. More and more of these birds have been appearing in Gensokyo every year. Wherever they become roused, the sky would become dyed in their colors. Yet their meat tastes good, despite their shabby appearances. The hot pot too, would end up dyed in that ibis color, almost a scarlet red. Not a nice way to put it, but it'd look like a human hot pot made by a vampire.

“Well, I guess it's fine, but why hot pot, all of a sudden?”

“Isn't it obvious? Cold days are all about hot pots.”

Marisa continued to chatter while barging into the kitchen. "Well, I just found 'im by chance, but he was pretty lively until a while ago."

Gensokyo is, quite literally, a place where illusionary creatures dwell. At some point, the people in the outside world wrote off “illusionary creatures” as nothing more than “fantasy creatures”. But, of course, illusionary creatures and fantasy creatures are very different. A fantasy creature is just another name for a delusion, misinterpretation or misunderstanding. On the other hand, an illusionary creature is one that can only be found in Gensokyo. It goes without saying, then, that both Marisa and I are also illusionary creatures.

However, the reason behind the sudden proliferation of crested ibises is something I don't understand. Could it be that they have become “illusionary birds”? That would be unthinkable in the outside world I knew, but then again, too much time has elapsed since then. As much as I try to imagine the outside world from limited literature and old memories, it would amount to nothing more than imaginations. An imagination plagued by imaginations is no more than a fantasy. For imaginations, I rank them in the order of Fantasy, Delusion, Prediction, the Virtual, and Illusion.

“Sorry for the wait! Marisa is here, too, right?”

“...I wasn't waiting. How could I when you girls showed up so suddenly?”

“Well, of course we came suddenly. But you should be waiting at all times. Isn't this a shop and everything?”

Reimu came just as Marisa said. She was carrying several bags with her. Ingredients for the hot pot, I guess.

“Hey, Reimu! Took ya long enough! Let's get this hot pot cookin'.”

Marisa had her arm outstretched, with a feeling of “C'mon, hand it over!” to it.

“I brought everything, yes.”

“Huh? This is red miso. Who told you to bring red miso?”

“I didn't need to be told. Red miso is the obvious choice for ibis broth!”

“Hey, hey! The hot pot is already red enough, so we should make it with white miso. Putting red miso in red broth? Are ya some kind of Communist?"

“It's not like you aren't going to eat because of the color. Since ibis meat is red to begin with, it shouldn't bother you, right? And why white miso? This isn't the Genpei War.”

The two of them went on about food coloring, but I wasn't listening. Regardless, Marisa was holding the ibis, and every time she gave it a squeeze, the ibis would squawk. It was kind of weird, like the ibis was supporting her. I'm sure Marisa was doing that on purpose.

"Don't red pickles go with tonkotsu? Wouldja put it in miso ramen?"

"And doesn't fukujinzuke go with curry? But knowing you, you'd probably throw it in cream stew.”

“Having somethin' red in the middle of somethin' white is the sign of a Japanese soul!”

“I'm already red and white enough. And what part of you has a Japanese soul, Marisa? Do you even know what 'Wabi-sabi' is?”

“I don't think ya know yerself, Reimu.”

“Of course I don't.”

“Anyway, we're not makin' a hot pot like that.”

“Wasn't it you who came up with the hot pot idea? We can't eat this ibis raw.”

“So is that how it is? Alright then, let's just divide it now.”

“Decide it?”

“Yeah, that'll work, too. Wanna go?”

In the end, it seems like they decided to settle the matter in a shooting duel, without so much as asking for my advice (even though they came to my shop uninvited). The rules were: 1-on-1 with Spellcard Rules. If Reimu won, the hot pot would be done her way; if Marisa won, she'd apparently make her go buy white miso. Never mind that I had white miso in my place, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, so I just let them be. Speaking of which, I actually know the tastiest way to cook a crested ibis...

“Marisa, what do I always tell you?”

“If you're gonna fight, then go outside, right?”

“More importantly, could you divide the bird up for Marisa, Mr. Rinnosuke?”

Their objectives seem to have changed already. Whatever the result is, I guess they'll happily eat it however I cook it. I could go as far as to think they arranged this scenario from the beginning, since it always follows the same pattern. Those two are frequently dueling to decide the most insignificant things. On top of that, they've been using attacks with lots of projectiles. It's extremely bright, and hard on the eyes.

Their duels are always a study in contrast. Against the gung-ho Marisa, Reimu – either on purpose or naturally – fights in a more laid-back style. The duels mostly go Reimu's way, but Marisa doesn't always lose. It's just that Marisa attacks with all her skill and might against Reimu, who looks just like she was made of air; it's like trying to pound a nail into dust. In any way, when looking at Reimu, she gives off a feeling that she is not quite from our own world. Anything more than that is something one cannot quite grasp.

“Hey, that's dangerous! What if it had hit me, Marisa!? Geez...”

“Aw, c'mon! Why didn't it hit?”

“Your bullets swerve to avoid me on their own. How nice of them!”

“They're flyin' straight...”

Since I could hear their voices, I went to see how things were going. Reimu looked like she would practically teleport at times. And her bullets would fly guided in impossible directions. It was kind of unfair.

Well then, this nice, round ibis looks really tasty; I've never seen one like it before. Speaking of which, Marisa said something that bothered me...

“Sorry for the wait, we've just made a decision.”

“Yes, you always make me wait like this. I already made the hot pot. With red miso, as expected.”

“Grrr... You already prepared the hot pot? What would ya do if I had won, Kourin?”

“I would have had you eat an ibis cooked in the tastiest way.”

The Hakurei Shrine is located in the edge of Gensokyo. And by edge, that doesn't mean only in the physical sense. There is the border between the outside world and Gensokyo. Because of that, the Hakurei Shrine is not an entirely “illusionary place”. And Marisa said she caught the ibis by the Shrine. It may be that this ibis is indeed from the outside world. So it would seem that crested ibises are not Illusionary Birds yet. I feel somewhat relieved.